Smith seeks his shot in NBA

USI star working out for pro scouts

JASON CLARK / Courier & Press archives
University of Southern Indiana guard Jamar Smith goes up for a shot against Missouri-St. Louis during his junior season. Smith set a school recod with 106 3-pointers as a senior, and now is hoping to get a chance to play professionally with an NBA team.

On the other end of the line, Jamar Smith's trainer had a question. Assigned by Smith's agent to work out his client — who racked up more postseason accolades this year than Nike has basketball shoes — in anticipation of Thursday's NBA draft, the trainer wanted to know one thing.

"Does he work this hard all the time?" he asked.

The answer is yes, according to USI head coach Rodney Watson, who has known Smith for years before coaching him last season. The 6-foot-3, 195-pound guard from Peoria, Ill., is fueled by a desire to earn a spot in the second round of the draft, but regardless of where or even if he's picked, it's been a work in progress to get to this point.

Merely being considered a prospect is not only evidence of his basketball acumen, but a testament to personal redemption.

When the 2010 NBA Draft kicks off at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Smith will be hoping to hear his name late in the evening after a senior season in which he averaged 21.6 points per game as the Eagles went 24-3.

"It's really not a sport anymore," Smith said. "You have to approach it like a job. Regular people go to work, work 9 to 5, and the hours are a little different but I still have to have the same approach."

It's an approach that Watson, in his first year as USI coach, saw first hand. Asked what stood out most about Smith, Watson mentioned the process rather than the results. Instead of pointing out Smith's school-record 108 3-pointers last season, Watson noted how Smith worked on the details of his footwork and release ensuring his shot's consistency — in turn leading to the single-season mark.

But Watson much earlier had seen pro-level potential the first time he watched Smith play. On a recruiting trip as an assistant at Southern Illinois, Watson witnessed a high school player who made him think that he had "no chance" at landing him; he was too good for SIU. Sure enough, Smith went to a Big Ten school, Illinois, where he made the all-freshmen team.

But his Big Ten career unraveled as a sophomore, when Smith crashed a car into a tree on a snowy night. It was later revealed he was drunk behind the wheel. Worse yet, teammate and passenger in the vehicle Brian Carlwell suffered a head injury; Smith apparently drove home and left Carlwell in the car. Smith was reportedly inconsolable following the incident but compounded the issue by continuing to use alcohol, getting caught and kicked off of the Illini for the parole violation months later.

So it was with baggage as plentiful as his talent that Smith sought a fresh start, which former USI coach Rick Herdes afforded him that only after significant consideration.

"I think the support of his family, the support of his girlfriend Jessica, and his grandpa and grandmother are just terrific people and sacrificed a lot of effort, time and money to help Jamar turn his life around," said Herdes, who still keeps in touch with Smith. "There was always question whether he could straighten his life out coming in here, but I just felt like he paid his due and he was on track, wanted to be on track, to do that."

Smith came to USI only after a brief incarceration and with ongoing legal woes. Sitting out of competitive basketball for a semester, Smith did what he's always done — he worked. Bagged groceries at Schnucks, in fact, went to classes and endlessly shot baskets on a side hoop while his new teammates practiced.

"I don't think there's anybody that works any harder at the game in my 17 years at USI than Jamar Smith," Herdes said. "He's very grounded, he's a very good father, cares about his son. He still goes back off and on and sees the people at Schnucks who he worked with."

And Smith's work ethic hasn't waned even if the place of work shifted once he was back on the court. That dedication led to a slew of honors, not the least of which are his Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Year and Basketball Times Division II Player of the Year awards.

Still, Division II college basketball success guarantees little in the way of professional opportunity. As soon as the season ended and a sore heel that bothered Smith in the final games of last season healed, he started hitting the gym. He was invited and participated at the Portsmouth Invitational for college seniors and, earlier this month, worked out for the Charlotte Bobcats and for a number of teams at a group workout held by the New Jersey Nets.

On Saturday he worked out for his home state Chicago Bulls — a personal favorite growing up. In a conditioning drill he matched a record for prospect workouts set by former pro Shawn Kemp. But physical stamina wasn't the only thing the Bulls tested.

"Talking to them, a lot of them said they were impressed with my fight," he said. "I think the reason is I've kept my nose clean ... They said a lot of guys would have quit after going through the stuff that I went through."

Nobody is sure what any of that will mean on Thursday. Even Smith said he believes it likely he will go undrafted, although agent Richard Katz added, "He's had several very, very good workouts and they're very complimentary of him, so we still think he's got a chance to be drafted in the second round."

Watson is convinced that Smith is capable of contributing at the next level not only because of his shooting ability, but because of a willingness to play — and work at — the point guard position if necessary. Because he's given the same effort at staying sober, Watson also believes character issues should be a non-issue.

"Obviously they look at everything," Watson said of the NBA's vetting process. "Some of those guys go as far back as junior high and they know everything that everybody does, and everyone's got ... a glitch. People make a lot of this guy's situation, but (they) know all the situations on all the guys and what's impressive about him is how he's dealt with it. Not so much the situation that got him to Southern Indiana, but how he's carried himself at Southern Indiana."

"Everybody I've talked to," Katz added, "is very pleased with him on and off the court; they believe he'd be a good teammate and a good leader."

It might have taken some work to rehabilitate his image, but working hard is nothing new for Smith. It's something he does every day, on and off the court.

"I think he always keeps in the back of his head he has to keep his guard up, because alcoholism is a disease," Herdes said. "He's going to fight that the rest of his life, and I'm just in awe of his willpower. Most people do not have that willpower."